Status of Screening by Mammography and its Related Factors in the General Population of Women in Rasht

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women. Screening by mammography is the most sensitive and specific test that can be used for early detection of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the state of screening by mammography and its related factors in a population of women in Rasht.
This cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study was conducted on 1,000 women by systematic sampling in Rasht during 2014-2015. Data collection by socio-demographic questionnaire and screening status was done via phone. Then, data were analyzed by SPSS 16 and T-Test, Chi-square test and logistic regression.
The mean of the age of women was 49.43 ±10.18 years. 45% of women had done mammography. In 80% of women, repeat screening intervals was more than 3 years. The average age of the first mammography was 44.1 ± 9.2 years. 68.4% of women noted that screening is because of checking their health status. 65.3% of women have announced that they did not do screening because they had no problem, and 3.4% have said that they did not have enough information about screening.
The findings of this study revealed that most women do not realize the need for screening and doing that on regular basis. Therefore, it is suggested that preventive measures, as a general education, should be considered in order to raise awareness and provide conditions for mammography to reduce disease prevalence, improve health status, reduce costs resulted from breast cancer among female population.